is an epicly epic RPG, dedicated to the proposition
that most RPGs take themselves far
too seriously. Since almost every imaginable plot scenario and character
has already been used and overused to the point that cliches are unavoidable,
TH instead revels in pointing out that the life of adventurers is one endless
heroic cliche, some sort of existential trap created by the gods of RPG worlds.
In other word, it has everything every other RPG game ever had, and
introspective humor too. It is not a hack-and-slash fest, but has adventure game aspects too; problem solving is as important as combat.

7. A variety of henchmen who contribute in an interactive way with the PC

8. A henchman relationship system which can lead to romance.

9. A character development system, first used in Newcomer™ and now perfected

10. All the quests and conversations are scripted and tested, so that the game is playable now in the development environment

11.
Combat system will be turn-based, by popular demand

The Story

Like all our favorite games, this story is as non-linear as possible, with only three choke points that keep the player from advancing too quickly and arriving at a state of confusion. These choke points are logical breaks that demand a certain amount of expertise and knowledge before safe progress.

The Setting (See Update #9 for more detail)

Tortured Hearts™ is set in the unique custom world of Eupherea, where things are different. For example, the gnome race hasn’t yet been written out of the Big Picture. Celestial bureaucracy, which functions much like ordinary mortal bureaucracy, has a hidden hand in the affairs of things and especially in the lives of adventurers. This philosophical premise naturally devolves into the question of whether there is really free will, on the part of the adventurer, or whether blind lust for loot and glory is the only real prime mover in the universe, a question the PC often asks himself.

The story is serious even though the situations parody cliches. The opening scene shows one particular seasoned, cocksure adventurer being drugged and robbed and thrown on a town dung heap (what a novel concept, eh?). Now he has to reestablish himself and, of course, take vengeance on the dastard who did this. He will travel to the ends of the cosmos and save the usual lost princess, cute animals, hopeless peasants, and the universe. Even a goblin. He will fulfill prophecies he doesn’t even appear in. He will conquer impressive, impossible bosses by hook or crook. He may even find a magic weapon in a crate. At the end, he finds that personal satisfaction and resolution always lie just out of reach, leaving (of course) the cliché opening for a sequel. The journey to this point provides about 100-150 hours of gameplay.

The Party

This is a single player game, with 8 possible companions (unless of course you donated $3000, in which case you can be your own companion). It is quite possible to play solo. If you choose companions, you can have up to five in a party for the classic 6-person party. However, not all these companions get along with each other. They have their own personalities, skills, and agendas. The PC and the companions have approximately 100,000 words of dialog with each other. Much conversation is initiated spontaneously by the companions and occurs between them as well as with the PC. Other NPCs have one-liner remarks to add color and hints in the background.

The Gameplay

Tortured Hearts™ is a non-linear RPG which emphasizes problem solving through interactive dialogs. There are six playable races: human, elf, half orc, halfling, dwarf, and gnome.The PC appearance can be modified as to head and gear. Races have different starting statistics as in most RPG. Character skills (e.g. communication) and abilities (e.g. strength) can be developed freely. There are no predetermined classes with built-in limitations, only trends which you can follow or not. Besides skills and abilities, there are sidelines, which are crafting skills that can earn gold and other rewards. You don’t have to be a crafter to get what you need. Generally speaking, the game world is rich and generous. You don’t have to play nice all the time although you will probably do better if you aren’t playing the jerk role. There are often ways to solve problems that don’t involve killing something.You can access all companion inventories. You can also train them individually and use their skills and abilities to make up for your own limits. They can help you automatically or you can tell them to bug off, you want to do it yourself. Combat will be turn-based. The party can be controlled as a group with a party controller widget.

Because many NPC interactions involve choices, there are many possible ways to get through the world. This and the flexible character system and multiple henchmen make the game highly replayable.

Graphics

Tortured Hearts™ will use full 3D models and movement in a 2D/3D style as in the tech demo video on YouTube:

Don't worry, we will still have blood and gore and body parts if you like, and if you don't, the gore factor can be shut off. We are going to use the Unity3D game engine and technology to express the game. This will make it easy to port the game to other popular platforms including tablets.

This is where the pledgers come into the picture; we need the money to finish the graphics, music and sound effects, voice-overs, and combat system, and hand a bug-free product over to you.

Estimated time to delivery, 18 months.

What if we are overpledged?

Depending on how much, whatever we can squeeze out of the following list of upgrades: More music, more voice-overs, more languages, shorter time to completion, more platforms, more thorough testing, boxed collector’s edition.

The Future

A sequel is already in the planning stage. The torture is sure to go on as long as we do.

Thanks in advance for your involvement and pledges.

The TH Team

Our Core Team

Zoltan Gonda, of Budapest, spent 10 years in the game industry
doing “real” work building strategy games as a scripter and level
designer. He worked on Haegemonia: The Legions of Iron; Rush for Berlin;
Panzers Phase 2; Panzers: Cold War. But even before perfecting tank
battles, an inner voice kept
telling him he was to
undo some
of the disruption that had occurred in the universe of role playing.
This
led to a creative burst starting with Newcomer™, a game for Commodore
64, in 1990. It
escalated with two Neverwinter Nights™ community modules, Tortured
Hearts I and
II, and has come to full flower with this stand-alone game, Tortured
Hearts™,
which has nothing much to do with Neverwinter Nights™ and certainly not
with
Dungeons and Dragons™.

Csaba Foris, of Budapest, is the lead artist and another
professional, with 20+ years experience in broadcast animation and game
art. He drew the original art for the original Newcomer™ and has been a
collaborator with Zoltan Gonda
ever since, bringing to life the vast concepts imagined first by Zoltan
and
now Lenore. Doing a darn good job, too.

Zoltan Toth, of Budapest,
is the lead programmer, and also has more than 20 years experience in
the game industry, working with various platforms: C64, Amiga,
Playstation, PS2, Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn, Mac, PC, X-Box. His company
story is at www.teleportgames.eu/.

Lenore Hoehl, of Arizona, is the English interface and office wonk
who has written or proofread over a million words of deathless
game text strings and invented tons of NPC gear. She founded Game Psych
LLC to help with the business end of development. The trademarks
Tortured Hearts™ and Newcomer™, as games, are owned by Game Psych LLC.
Game Psych has already made two as yet unpublished casual games and
parts of several others with the Hungarian partners.

Sound effects and music will be provided by Aquasound, http://www.aquasound.hu/. Additional music will be provided by Gergely Buttinger, who actually lives outside Budapest, and has
contributed both graphics and music to games for years.

Other
helpers are standing by ready to join. You too can join the show
by getting involved with pledges and comments.

FAQ

We could have asked for less, hoping we'd be overpledged. But what if we weren't? We couldn't promise a finished game of the best quality. We are already on a very spare budget that we know is enough to finish. Update #1 explains this a little more.

Basically the PC, but as we are using Unity, other platforms that are supported by Unity are possible if enough is pledged to cover costs of those licenses and development. At this writing, Unity supports iOS, Android, PC, and Macintosh. Linux is not in the picture yet.

It’s a little late now for plot or big quest suggestions, because the game is so close to finished. However, beta players ($50 or more pledge) will have plenty of chances to hunt bugs and make suggestions about balance and story details. The contributions of beta players can make significant differences in many ways.

Pledge $50 or more

41 backers

Level 3 -- Ultimate Newcomer -- Get all previous, another extra license, an additional spiffy item of your choice (two total), a magic potion you can use if you want to give an in-game bonus of additional 10 pct. XP gained. (30 total over normal reward) You’ll have access to the closed beta testing session which means you get to help polish the final product and rant directly to the authors.

Estimated delivery:Sep 2013

You selected

Pledge $100 or more

13 backers

Level 4 -- Serious Contender -- Get all previous, two more extra licenses, a poster signed by the development team, another dose of magic potion you can drink to give additional 20 pct. virtual gold received as in-game only loot, and CD of the soundtrack music.

Estimated delivery:Sep 2013

You selected

Pledge $150 or more

1 backer

Level 4+ -- Natural Born Adventurer -- Get all previous, plus a physical badge with the TH logo and title "Natural Born Adventurer," and the digital version of the novel, Tortured Hearts 1 - Down a Dangerous Road (the first prequel of the present story).

Estimated delivery:Sep 2013

You selected

Pledge $200 or more

1 backer
Limited (399 left of 400)

Level 5 -- Seasoned Looter -- Get all previous, 4 more extra licenses, an additional starting item of your choice (3 total), a T-Shirt, and a TH logo flash drive with the game on it. Your badge now says "Seasoned Looter." Also your name will be eternalized somewhere in the game world for your own little Easter egg, and you’ll be put on the special credit list.

Estimated delivery:Sep 2013

You selected

Pledge $400 or more

1 backer
Limited (199 left of 200)

Level 6 -- Mighty One -- Get all previous, 8 more extra licenses, another T-Shirt, and the custom pet of your choice. The pet can be anything, even a dragon, a finch or a piece of rock if you like. Your badge now says "Mighty One." Also, a hintbook in comic book format!

Estimated delivery:Sep 2013

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Pledge $750 or more

0 backers
Limited (100 left of 100)

Level 7 -- Chosen One -- Get all previous, 16 more extra licenses, 2 additional starting items of your choice (5 total), and now your name will appear on a living creature, either as a boss monster or NPC, your choice. Your badge now says "Chosen One." Your credit list appearance is upgraded with your photo or avatar.

Estimated delivery:Sep 2013

You selected

Pledge $3,000 or more

1 backer
Limited (39 left of 40)

Level 8 -- Savior of the Universe -- Get all previous, 32 more extra licenses, 5 additional starting items of your choice (10 total), and your personalized NPC is immediately upgraded to a companion (aka henchman). Your badge now says "Savior of the Universe." You can be a major character in the sequel. And for an unforgettable treat... you can visit us anytime during July and August in our southern Arizona office.

Estimated delivery:Sep 2013

Funding period

Mar 20, 2012 - Apr 29, 2012
(40 days)

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